Supported events

INTA Open Session at Africities 8 summit, 20-24 November 2018

INTA has held in partnership with IAU-IF a round table on "Financialization and the capture of urban value" at the 8th edition of the Africities Summit in Marraskech, from 20 to 24 November 2018, organized by the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG). The round table was part of the Open Sessions of the summit, the afternoon of November 22.

Financialization describes the growing power of finance capital over economic, social and political processes. From an urban point of view financialization can also be understood as a form of accumulation characterized by the capturing of value and wealth through the provision of credit, insurance and forms of financial intermediation. The role of finance and financial actors in shaping the city is increasingly key to understanding some contemporary urban problems.

Why are rents rising?

Why is office space being built when we’re in the middle of a homelessness crisis and desperately need to increase the supply of affordable housing?

How and where is profit being produced from urban space and what are the likely outcomes of this type of model?

All of these questions in some way relate to how finance shapes the city. The roundtable led by INTA has proposed answers for these questions, to understand how to better use financialization for the urban space benefit.

The Africities summit is a pan-African event that is held every three years in one of the five regions of Africa, for communities and local authorities of African countries as well as financial institutions, civil society groups and development partners at continental and international level. Its aim is to define appropriate shared strategies in order to improve the living conditions of people at the local level and to contribute to the integration, peace and unity of Africa starting from the grassroots.

The stakeholders of African local life will discuss the future of Africa on three main segments : open sessions, thematic sessions and political sessions. The topics addressed will be numerous, from culture and heritage to climate change. The thematic sessions will be divided in 4 parts: transition, local strategies, innovative local practices and mobilizing local stakeholders.